Thread: Honing Virgin Needs Advice on Stones

It's the jump from 1-6 which is such a big problem, not so much the size of the jump (although smaller steps are IMO better). That's because as you get along your honing cycle, to the finer stones, it's easier to make larger jumps because you have gotten to a place where the edge is already good. A similar situation would be when your wife cooks for you, the food is good but if Gordon Ramsey cooks for you ... different ballpark.

I found the man-made finisher better to learn on but everybody's experience is different. If it were me buying a hone for starting out and I had my experience with the Ohishi hone, I would buy that one. I paid $140 for my 10k Ohishi. That's only because I have worked with that brand.

People shave from the 8k, especially when they are starting out. There are many, many, many, (I could go on) posts on here that recommend just the 4/8k Norton for beginners. Having never owned this stone I can't comment on it, but those people wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't good enough. Earlier in this thread a 1k stone was mentioned, you need this for bevel setting or you will lose all the hair on your head in the process of setting a bevel (bevel setting could take a long time depending on the razor's condition).

Originally Posted by PigHog

Not made up my mind yet!

I've just seen a Toishi-Ohishi 3000/8000...? It's about £60 from a UK site, which I'm trying to stick to if I can, so I don't have to pay tons on shipping. (Having thought about it, that's just as big a jump as a 1000/6000 stone.) Failing that, you're slowly convincing me to get the Norton 4/8...are you encouraging me to buy a single, lower grit stone for setting bevels as well, though?

With regards to a finishing stone, you're saying that man-made is better than natural to learn on but if I choose the right stone for sharpening, I probably don't need one straight away, anyway, and should hold off for a bit?

Is something like the Norton 4k/8k going to be sufficient for keeping a blade in shave-ready condition on its own or will I definitely be needing a higher grit stone for that? I'd like to start by being able to keep my razors sharp and then work on sharpening them from dull as it seems like it suits my needs better...although if that's a silly way of doing things, I'll just be quiet and listen to the people with experience!

It must be said, you guys are very helpful!

What I'm going to do is read that thread first, and then I'm likely to go for either the Norton or the Ohishi, depending on their prices. It sounds like I'll stick with just that to begin with and then I'll get myself a 1k stone and a finishing stone further down the line.

I'd imagine that this decision is also likely to change...

Naniwa do a 2k/5k stone, though that might be a little too low to fit in with my plan.

EDIT: The Norton is £66 from Amazon, so the price is basically the same.

now then ... here is what will really happen when you start honing ... you will start with your 4k/8k (maybe including a 1k if you need bevel setting), and you will be happy with your shaves once you become proficient at honing.

Then you will buy more stones because you will get HAD (HAD = hone acquisition disorder). HAD comes free with all hones, so don't worry about the immediate cost. You will prob end up with a honing progression like 1-2-3-5-8-10-first finisher-second finisher, three different strops, some with pastes some without.

the funny thing is ... that sounds like a joke lol

Originally Posted by PigHog

It must be said, you guys are very helpful!

What I'm going to do is read that thread first, and then I'm likely to go for either the Norton or the Ohishi, depending on their prices. It sounds like I'll stick with just that to begin with and then I'll get myself a 1k stone and a finishing stone further down the line.

I'd imagine that this decision is also likely to change...

Naniwa do a 2k/5k stone, though that might be a little too low to fit in with my plan.

Ok, so I ordered a Norton 4/8 in the end, as they appear to be rather versatile and good to start on, allowing you to do a fairly comprehensive honing job, if requiring a little extra effort—and it's yet to arrive.

After a bit of general research, I've also been thinking about the use of a pasted strop in place of a finishing stone—really trying to avoid spending any more money at the moment, I was wondering if making a fabric strop out of denim and pasting it (with Dovo black paste?) would be worthwhile?

No paste. Learn to get a good shaving edge off 8k.

I'll tell you what, I just got some Shapton stones and they are terrific! The reason is, I have a better feel as to when the blade is ready. So based on my experience, I'd at least price a Shapton 1k, 4k, 8k, and 16k and if not this round, consider it in the future if you have difficulty honing with the traditional stones.

My original setup is a King 1000k for bevel setting, Norton 4/8k, and a Chinese 12k. These are nice and they are affordable, but I never could quite feel comfortable that the job was completed after using these. It could be inexperience on my part. Sometimes I honed the thing 5-6 times before I was comfortable with the shave.

Originally Posted by PigHog

Ok, so I ordered a Norton 4/8 in the end, as they appear to be rather versatile and good to start on, allowing you to do a fairly comprehensive honing job, if requiring a little extra effort—and it's yet to arrive.

Sorry, is this the UK amazon? Or did you order from the US, in which case has it arrived and have you paid any import duty?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I most admit to being a Nitpicky SOB sometimes but it drives me bonkers when I see the 12k and 15k grit ratings on those Welsh hones

Agreed, I have yet to see and/or try one with a resulting edge over +/- 8K range.

Originally Posted by StefanD

Sorry, is this the UK amazon? Or did you order from the US, in which case has it arrived and have you paid any import duty?

That was from the US site. I don't remember what the exact breakdown on the order was (I didn't pay too much attention) but I haven't had to pay anything additional.

I am still waiting for it to show up, not in a worried kind of way though—I opted for cheapo shipping so I'm content to wait until this time next week before I start getting concerned.

Ok, good to know. As far as I'm aware import duty pops up when you receive it. I'm hoping there won't be any. It'd be great if you could put up a post once you get it as I'd really love to know.

Thanks for the reply!